Swing arm swop??????????

[dixiethedog]

Ive got to admit,i like old suzuki's and kawasaki's where it seems almost normal to swop the swingarms for more modern ones from late model bikes,can anybody suggest an easy swop for the FJ1200??
Im thinking along the lines of a gsxr1000 or a Hayabusa arm with bolt on extensions. Ive an open mind if theres an easy swop though.

[dixiethedog]

I forgot to mention,id like an arm with a brace,so the thundercat/thunderace "easy" mod is not an option.

[andyb]

Define easy.  If you're just a guy in a garage with typical hand tools, then I certainly haven't heard of an easy swap.  If you're a guy with a machine shop, there's probably a lotta em.  Know the FZ1 and R1 have donated an arm or two to FJ's through the years, but it always seemed a bit involved.

[dixiethedog]

Thanks for reply Andy,im lucky enough to have a milling machine,lathe,tig and mig welding gear etc etc,but im lazy!!!I want easy!!!
Im sure i'll sort something out in good time.

[andyb]

Well, Frank used an 01 FZ1 and did this.

Tim used an 07 R1 arm and did this.

Rittner used a YZF1000 Thunderace and did this. (More here.)


Any swingarm could be braced by a shop that does swingarm extensions, like JMC, among many others.  You could also get different ends put on if you prefer a different length or chain adjustment type.

[andyb]

Glenn used a YZF750R arm and did this. 

Took a fair bit of work though.  Need to get a howto post from him on that arm, it looks like it's factory stock to the FJ.

[dixiethedog]

Thanks for the links,i really like the yzf750r arm conversion,this could be the way forward for me? Im going to read the link write up and absorb as much info as i can before taking the plunge and buying an arm.
To define easy,unbolt original arm and put in the skip,slide a new arm in,bolt up and ride away. Its not going to be that easy....
On the subject of JMC,lol,obviously youve never dealt with them? You can wait months for delivery,get excuse over the phone when you call them,just not worth the hassle. Ive a jmc arm for a kawasaki gpz1100b1,and too be honest,id rather fit an arm from another bike.

[andyb]

Never dealt with JMC, no reason to go overseas for that sort of thing, but it was the first link I found   Adams, Macintosh, some guy called canadian mike, there's a bazillion guys that can brace/stretch arms, but jmc came up so that's the link i used

[dixiethedog]

LOL about JMC,you probably dont realise how lucky you lot are to live in the US,absolutely loads of great parts suppliers at fantastic prices!
As an aside,to give you an example,a gallon of petrol here in the uk,is around the £6.00 area (9.68 dollars). Our government must be the greediest in the World with some of the taxes we must pay.

[RACER111V]

 The yzf 750 arm is the same as the thunderace arm ,with the exception of the upper brace.On a '86 it requires the later style shock link (relay arm),and late style shock to fit the link.The brace interferes with the lower subframe tubes and battery box. JMC makes a braced arm that "should" fit with minimum mods. They take time and are not inexpensive.A thunderace arm braced to fit the bike in the theme of the YZF arm would be my choice if (when) I was to do this again.